For patients across the East Midlands, osteoarthritis treatment in Nottingham is now consultant-led and within easy reach. The Joint Pain Practice runs its Nottinghamshire clinic at GenesisCare inside The Park Centre Oncology, set in the calm, green grounds of Burntstump Country Park just north of the city. Every consultation is with Dr Richard Shaffer, a UK-leading specialist in low-dose radiotherapy. Patients travel here from Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Sheffield and the wider region for a non-surgical option that targets joint pain at the source.
By Dr Richard Shaffer
No surgery, no general anaesthetic
Low-dose therapy
Treatment delivered in Nottinghamshire, NG5 8RX
For people in the East Midlands living with persistent joint pain, the standard path has often involved repeated steroid injections that lose their effect, or a long wait for joint replacement surgery. Low-dose radiotherapy fills the space between those two routes. It addresses the inflammation behind the pain rather than masking it, and the full course can be wrapped up within two weeks without time off work. Three things make this approach worth considering:
Low-dose radiotherapy works directly on the inflamed joint, settling the immune cells that drive the pain instead of just blocking pain signals. Around 10 million people in the UK have arthritis, and a growing share are looking for an option that sits between an injection clinic and a surgical theatre.
Dr Shaffer set up his Surrey practice in 2011 and has since treated thousands of osteoarthritis patients across the UK. He serves as President of the International Organisation for Radiotherapy for Benign Conditions, the global body that sets standards for this type of treatment, and he trains other UK consultants who now offer similar therapy.
Nottingham is one of four sites where Dr Shaffer holds face-to-face consultations, alongside Cromwell Hospital, Wimbledon and Surrey. After your consultation in Nottingham, you can have the radiotherapy course itself delivered here in Nottingham or at any of our 15 UK centres, depending on where suits your routine.
Low-dose radiotherapy has been used in Germany and other parts of Europe for benign inflammatory conditions for decades. The dose is a small fraction of what's used in cancer treatment, calibrated to settle the overactive immune response in the joint without affecting the surrounding tissue.
A typical course is six brief sessions over two to three weeks. There's no anaesthetic, no needle into the joint and no recovery period built in. Most patients are in and out of the unit within half an hour and drive themselves home afterwards. Pain relief usually builds gradually, with most people feeling meaningful improvements in stiffness and discomfort over the first two to three months, and benefits often continuing beyond that.
The clinical evidence is encouraging. A pooled analysis of 65 studies covering more than 7,000 patients reported long-term overall response rates of 75% for low-dose radiotherapy in painful osteoarthritis. For East Midlands patients who have already worked through physiotherapy, painkillers or steroid injections without lasting results, low-dose radiotherapy is often the option no one has mentioned yet.
Your first appointment is a face-to-face review with Dr Shaffer at The Park Centre. He'll talk through your symptoms, look over any X-rays or scans you've had, and examine the affected joint. From there, he'll explain whether low-dose radiotherapy is likely to help in your case and how the treatment course would be planned around your routine. Consultations usually run around 30 minutes, and a clear written summary goes to you and your GP within a week of the appointment.
A standard course is six sessions, usually delivered over two to three weeks. Each session takes only a few minutes of actual treatment time, and most patients are in and out of the building within half an hour, including check-in. There's no recovery period afterwards, so you can drive yourself home and carry on with your day.
That's the situation many of our East Midlands patients arrive in. Most have already worked through painkillers, physio, and hyaluronic acid or steroid injections without lasting relief. Low-dose radiotherapy is often most useful at exactly that point. You don't need to have failed every option first, though. Many patients prefer to skip injections altogether and try this approach earlier on.
A GP referral isn't required if you're paying for the consultation yourself. If you're using private medical insurance, your insurer will usually want a referral letter for the first appointment. Most of our patients self-refer through the enquiry form and forward any previous notes, scans or specialist letters once the consultation is booked.
Most patients having low-dose radiotherapy for osteoarthritis are self-funding, because insurance coverage for this treatment is still inconsistent across UK providers and policies. We're upfront about costs from the outset, with full pricing transparency before anything begins. If you have private medical insurance, the most practical route is to get authorisation for the initial consultation first, then take the proposed treatment plan back to your insurer for a coverage decision on the radiotherapy itself.
The clearest sense of what treatment in Nottingham is actually like comes from people who've already been through it. Below are a few words from patients who chose low-dose radiotherapy at The Park Centre after exhausting other options.
Dr Shaffer explained the treatment clearly so I had no anxiety before and during treatment.
I think this treatment is a great alternative to surgery.
Within 20 minutes of completing an on line enquiry form Dr Shaffer had called me personally, discussed my condition and made an appointment to see him. I never felt under any pressure and completely trusted his expert opinion. At last somebody who took notice and understood the condition. I would highly recommend his care.
The appointment and then the treatment was prompt and straightforward.
Most importantly, it was painless and appears to have worked!
Dr Shaffer was on-time and dealt with the examination of hands/feet. He was able to rely on records of a prior visit in 2011 to help with diagnosis (that I had lost).
He was able to recommend treatment and courses of action - whether through him or colleagues. He was very helpful.
Treatment is delivered through GenesisCare at The Park Centre Oncology, a dedicated radiotherapy unit set inside the grounds of Burntstump Country Park, just north of the city. Sitting in its own building separate from the main hospital, the centre offers a calm, private setting with experienced radiographers and precise linear accelerators on site.
GenesisCare, The Park Centre for Oncology, Sherwood Lodge Drive, Burntstump Country Park, Nottingham, NG5 8RX
The centre is just off the A60, between central Nottingham and Mansfield. From the M1, leave at junction 27, take the A608 onto the A611, then follow the B6011 onto the A60. As you enter the site, turn left and head into the walled car park. The radiotherapy unit is in a separate building with dedicated parking spaces right outside, all free to use.
Nottingham railway station, on the East Midlands Railway line, is the closest mainline station and around 25 to 30 minutes by taxi from the centre. The station is well served from London St Pancras (around two hours), Sheffield, Derby and Leicester, making it straightforward for patients across the wider region.
Local services run along the A60 between Nottingham and Mansfield, with stops within walking distance of the Burntstump turn-off. Most patients find a taxi from the city centre or the nearest stop to be the easiest final leg.
Leave your details below, and our team will be in touch to arrange a consultation at a time that suits you.
